Ryu Connor wrote:...I too am somewhat disapointed with the tone of this thread. The entire topic is little better than flamebait and stone throwing in glass houses.

Okay, never was it my intent to make this a flame thread. It was always meant from the beginning to be tongue-in-cheek humor, and nothing more. This was only meant to get a few laughs. Check the timestamp on the original post; I made that post shortly after hearing that the lines were queuing up, and that just seemed so "silly humans" funny to me.

Truth be told, I am in the market for a new smartphone and the iPhone 5 is indeed among the candidates. In fact, it's a strong contender in my book, partly because of the slimmer width, and partly becasue of the integration with iTunes and the Apple app store, which would make it synergistic with my iPad. Cons include the lack of concurrent voice+data (I am on Verizon) and the new docking port (because it's different than my iPod and iPad).

So, a request from me, the original poster...please, we're all taking ourselves (and my original intent for this thread) too seriously here. Let's ALL try to lighten up here a bit. Feel the love!

Ryu Connor wrote:Not something I do, but I don't see how the behavior is any different than lining up for a Black Friday sale.

Another spectacular waste of time. I'll just sleep in.

At least on BF, there's a chance of getting a great discount/deal on something you can't get any other time of the year.

With the Iphone 5, it's not appreciably different than the 4s, it's going to be around for a long time, and it's only going to get cheaper, too. Standing in line for an Iphone 5 doesn't really equate to a Black Friday lineup.

Besides, the smart people who really wanted the new Iphones set their alarm clocks and pre-ordered online a couple weeks ago.

Vrock wrote:At least on BF, there's a chance of getting a great discount/deal on something you can't get any other time of the year.

More typically, a chance of getting a great discount/deal you couldn't get any other time of the year, on something you could still get some other time of the year if you were willing to pay more. (That's probably what you meant, but the sentence didn't parse that way...)

The years just pass like trains. I wave, but they don't slow down.-- Steven Wilson

Vrock wrote:With the Iphone 5, it's not appreciably different than the 4s, it's going to be around for a long time, and it's only going to get cheaper, too. Standing in line for an Iphone 5 doesn't really equate to a Black Friday lineup.

I think the only time that Apple dropped the price on a phone, save one outlier, is after they introduced the next model. And even then you can only get one specific model of the old version. So yeah, it'll price drop but you have to wait a year (?) for the next iteration to come out so you can buy the "old" model.

Also, I'd say the CPU, graphics power, larger screen, and LTE are appreciably different from a 4S. If you want to go the other way, one could say that any generic smartphone is not appreciably different than any other. Even the different iterations of android phones like HTC and Samsung stuff, ya? Later versions are basically the same, just tweaked a bit to be "better".

You did leave out that the 5 is appreciably different from the 4 and other earlier models, regardless of the metric used. Since most 4S users are probably still under contract and would have to pay an ETF to "upgrade", the target market is probably those using the 4 or earlier anyway.

Scrotos wrote:Also, I'd say the CPU, graphics power, larger screen, and LTE are appreciably different from a 4S.

I forgot to mention it earlier, but two thumbs up on the LTE (where it's available). Take this with the proverbial grain of salt, of course, but the Speedtest.net app yielded the following result: Download 43.02 Mbps, Upload 17.41 Mbps, Ping 67 ms. Be careful of those data caps!

trackerben wrote:Make fun of people who are so interested in the latest stuff that they will line up for it?

Absolutely; because they deserve it.

Is lining up for something new, highly-regarded, and scarce a lowly behavior to be treated with mocking contempt?

Yes. Lining up for hours on end, or paying someone to stand in line for you, to buy a phone is behavior worthy of being mocked. Yes, the phone is new... and yes, I suppose it's highly-regarded by some people - though that is subjective, and based on the reviews may not be as many people as you think. But scarce? Really? It's not as if Apple is only making a limited amount of these things.

Isn't encouraging consumption in these dismal economic times a Good Thing? Is this what tech sites are about these days?

If these people are standing in line for hours on end, they aren't working or participating in the larger economy. It would be better, economically speaking, for these people to go about their business and simply buy an iPhone when it's convenient.

As for what tech sites are about, tech sites are about tech. And that includes how people react to tech. And sometimes mocking them.

Such lining up seems stupid to me. There, we both have opinions now! Yay!

Yeah, but to keep in the spirit of this thread, obviously your opinion is wrong!

I don't remember anyone in this thread actually stating that lining up for an iPhone is wrong. Mockery of such practices, in this thread anyway, seem to be based on the premise that standing in line (for hours and even days in some cases) to acquire an item that can be had at the same price only days later without queuing is an ineffectual and unproductive use of one's time. Ergo, it is a stupid behavior. Yes, you can argue that waiting in line itself is a socially gratifying experience. But there is no other benefit to the experience. Why not instead take the day off and do something you actually enjoy with friends? And if I'm going to eschew basic modern comforts and personal hygiene (at least for the longer queuers), i'd rather do it while attempting to get closer to nature (ie, camping), instead of attempting to get closer to life as a homeless person - but maybe that's just me.

You are confusing stupidity with morality. ;-P

(And speaking of ineffectual and unproductive uses of people's time, let's keep this thread going!)

Scrotos wrote:Since most 4S users are probably still under contract and would have to pay an ETF to "upgrade", the target market is probably those using the 4 or earlier anyway.

You really believe that?

A boy can dream, can't he?!? The cynic in me says that the target market is probably anyone willing to shell out the money and if people want to pay extra for non-subsidized phones, well, I wish I had money to burn like that.

Scrotos wrote:...if people want to pay extra for non-subsidized phones, well, I wish I had money to burn like that.

When I bought my Droid X a couple years ago, I was moving from AT&T to Verizon and I didn't want to be locked into a full 2-year contract with Verizon; just in case they did something to P1ss me off. I don't remember the precise dollar amounts, but I think that the difference was something like $50 or so.

So I did pay a little bit more for the phone in order to get a 1-year contract. Turns out it wasn't necessary because I've been happy with Verizon's reliability and coverage in the places and cities that I most often wake up in.

Scrotos wrote:...if people want to pay extra for non-subsidized phones, well, I wish I had money to burn like that.

When I bought my Droid X a couple years ago, I was moving from AT&T to Verizon and I didn't want to be locked into a full 2-year contract with Verizon; just in case they did something to P1ss me off. I don't remember the precise dollar amounts, but I think that the difference was something like $50 or so.

So I did pay a little bit more for the phone in order to get a 1-year contract. Turns out it wasn't necessary because I've been happy with Verizon's reliability and coverage in the places and cities that I most often wake up in.

That's an exception- especially if the phone had been out for a while. Compare owning a SGS3/IP5 new-in-box vs. contract price.

cynan wrote:I don't remember anyone in this thread actually stating that lining up for an iPhone is wrong. Mockery of such practices, in this thread anyway, seem to be based on the premise that standing in line (for hours and even days in some cases) to acquire an item that can be had at the same price only days later without queuing is an ineffectual and unproductive use of one's time. Ergo, it is a stupid behavior. Yes, you can argue that waiting in line itself is a socially gratifying experience. But there is no other benefit to the experience. Why not instead take the day off and do something you actually enjoy with friends? And if I'm going to eschew basic modern comforts and personal hygiene (at least for the longer queuers), i'd rather do it while attempting to get closer to nature (ie, camping), instead of attempting to get closer to life as a homeless person - but maybe that's just me.

You are confusing stupidity with morality. ;-P

(And speaking of ineffectual and unproductive uses of people's time, let's keep this thread going!)

Your post just reaffirms my gut feeling to lock this as flamebait. I had accused this thread of stone throwing in glass houses as the reality is that there is inevitably something all of us do that could be mocked as a timewaster.

Time for this to become an ex-thread.

"Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. We're so glad you could attend. Come inside! Come inside!"